Randy Bradley was trying to do something kind for his wife when he suggested they go boating July 26.
Michelle Bradley’s sister died a little over a year ago, and July 26 was her birthday.
“He was taking me out on the boat to cheer me up because I had a panic attack two days before because me and her were so close,” Michelle Bradley said. “He said, ‘I just want to take you out today and put a smile on your face.'”
While they were boating on Harrison Bay State Park near Thatch Bridge, Randy Bradley, 51, told his wife he wasn’t feeling well.
It was hot, and Michelle Bradley suggested they pull over into a cove to swim. They pulled over about 20 feet off the bank, and Randy Bradley anchored the boat.
A floaty fell off the back of the boat. Michelle Bradley said she told her husband to grab his life jacket, but since the floaty was so close to the boat, Randy Bradley opted to jump in to retrieve it without his life jacket. His jump pushed the floaty farther away from their boat, his wife said.
“When Randy got about 20 feet from the boat, he started screaming, ‘Hurry, Michelle. It hurts. Help,'” she said. “So, I threw the life jacket. I couldn’t throw it out far enough.”
She tried throwing out the ski rope, but he couldn’t grab it.
“I pulled the anchor up real quick, and I pulled the boat around as close as I could get to him,” she said.
Michelle Bradley said she had her life jacket in hand and jumped into the water.
“I got about 2 feet from him, and he went down,” she said of her husband. “I couldn’t reach him, and I kept diving down. I couldn’t see him, I couldn’t feel him, and he never came up again.”
The couple’s service dog, Groot, was on the boat and wearing a life jacket, she said. When Groot realized his owners were in trouble, Michelle Bradley said he jumped into the water to try to help them.
Eventually, a man on a WaveRunner saw that Michelle Bradley, who screamed for help, and her husband were in trouble. But it was too late.
Michelle Bradley said her husband was found eight hours later, exactly where she’d watched him sink in 15 to 18 feet of water. She said he was a strong swimmer and very athletic.
She said she is unsure if the heat of the day played a role, as her husband had guzzled Gatorades all day. Michelle Bradley said she and her family are still waiting on the death certificate to determine her husband’s cause of death.
“I’m just thankful and praise God that we decided to leave our special needs son at home that day, because if he would have been out there, it would have been more of a tragedy,” she said. “He didn’t need to see what I had to see.”
‘THE KINDNESS HE GAVE’
The Bradleys of Rock Spring enjoyed spending time together, whether rock climbing, camping or just watching TV.
Michelle Bradley said her husband loved barbecue competitions, which they competed in as a couple. They often placed, and it was his dream to beat Chef Myron Mixon at a competition. (Mixon, according to a biography on his website, has won more barbecue competitions than anyone in the world.) Four years ago, Michelle Bradley said they did just that when they placed fourth in a brisket competition out of 70 teams around the world.
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Randy Bradley was a laser specialist and worked at Volkswagen for 14 years. He ultimately became the plant’s assistant manager before retiring this past May, Michelle Bradley said. He couldn’t stay home, she said, and after a month, he started a new job at Kenco in Chattanooga, where he was a plant supervisor.
The hours were long, and the days were hard, Michelle Bradley said. Still, he loved his work and team.
He was level-headed and considerate, she said, and always thought before he spoke.
Randy Bradley had strong faith in God, she said, and he would help people in their neighborhood if he saw them struggling to carry a package or take out the trash.
“Just the kindness that he gave to everybody,” she said. “It didn’t matter who it was. He treated everybody the same.”
Michelle Bradley said her husband loved spending time with his family and never left her side.
The couple would have been together 20 years next July, she said, and were planning to renew their vows in January. Now, Michelle Bradley said she will instead read the vows she wrote at his eulogy since he never got to hear them.
The couple met when Michelle Bradley worked as a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector at Cook Foods in Chattanooga, where Randy Bradley worked.
“There was not a more perfect man that God could have chose for me,” she said of her husband. “I always told my mom that when I get married, I’m going to know it’s the one, and I’m only going to get married one time.”
One night before the tragedy, Michelle Bradley said she told her husband to promise he wouldn’t die before she did because she said she couldn’t handle a world without him in it. Randy Bradley told her he’d try.
Michelle Bradley said she told her husband they’d have to die together, but he reminded her she had their three sons — Randy Bradley’s biological children from a first marriage, whom Michelle Bradley adopted following their mother’s death — to think about.
Randy Bradley told Michelle Bradley that she was stronger than she thought and would get through it, she said.
WHAT IF?
On the way out to the boat, Michelle Bradley said her husband played a song called “If I Die Before You” by Chris Lane.
She said the song and events of the day keep repeating in her head.
“What if we would have stayed home?” she said. “If he had a heart attack, I could have done CPR. I could have got him help. If that’s what did it. If we would have not been out on the water. If we wouldn’t have been in the boat. If we would have just said, ‘OK, let’s just go home. You’re not feeling good.’ What would have happened?”
Michelle Bradley said she’ll miss everything about her husband. Approaching her husband’s funeral, she said she’s in a zombie mode.
“It just seems like, right now, it’s not real,” Michelle Bradley said. “The first three days, I cried so much, and I screamed so much that I lost my voice … I’m just in shock.”
She said her sons, niece and nephew are with her. The distraction is good, she said, but sometimes she goes to a room and cries.
The night before his death, Michelle Bradley said she and her husband laid in bed and talked about how their son is 22, and they would have grandchildren soon.
“We knew that we wanted to find some land and build a house on some land out in the country,” she said, “and just realizing that all those dreams that I had with him, that they’ll never be. But I’m so glad he accomplished all of his dreams that he wanted to accomplish.”
WATER SAFETY
The Georgia Department of Public Health recommends using a well-fitting life jacket when swimming.
Nancy Nydam, director of communications for the Georgia Department of Public Health, said via email that swimming is a fun way to be physically active but urged safety.
“Knowing how to reduce the risks of injury and illness around water, and always following the steps for safe swimming, will protect you and those you love,” she said.
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Michelle Bradley said she wants people to be aware that no matter how strong a swimmer they are, even if they’re jumping right off the boat, anything can happen.
She said she’s unsure if her husband began to cramp because he wasn’t flailing his arm or struggling to stay above water. She said he kept bobbing up and down like a buoy instead.
“Just don’t chance it,” she said. “No matter what, take the few seconds to put your life jacket on, because had he had his life jacket on, I could have drug him back up on the boat and maybe gave him CPR and maybe kept him alive until somebody got there. That haunts me now, and that’ll haunt me till the day I die.”
Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Leah Hunter at lhunter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.